PLOT
Legend of the Fist: The Return of Chen Zhen will be set seven years after the apparent death of Chen Zhen, who was shot after discovering who was responsible for his teacher’s death (Huo Yuanjia) in Japanese-occupied Shanghai. A mysterious stranger arrives from overseas and befriends a local mafia boss. That man is a disguised Chen Zhen, who intends to infiltrate the mob when they form an alliance with the Japanese. Disguising himself as a caped fighter by night, Chen intends to take out everyone involved as well as get his hands on an assassination list prepared by the Japanese.

The movie also stars Shu Qi, Anthony Wong and Huang Bo and will be released theatrically in Hong Kong on 23 September 2010.

If you’re a massive fan of hong kong cinema like me, you’ll know that Sammo hung and Yuen Biao have been in some breathtaking movies, some which focused on the life of the art “Wing Chun”, such as classics like The Prodigal Son, Warriors Two and the Ip Man series. I was also happy to see Yuen Biao again back in a lead role, showing his skills on the big screen.

PLOT
“In his childhood, Ip Man was initiated into Wing Chun under the tutelage of Master Chan Wah Shun (Sammo Hung). After Chan’s death, Ip Man follows senior schoolmate Ng Chung So (Yuen Biao) as his new mentor alongside his brother Ip Tin Chi (Fan Siu Wong) and good friend Lee Mei Wai (Rose Chan). Later, the teenage Ip Man (To Yue Hong) opts to leave Foshan to pursue education in Hong Kong, where he meets his third teacher Leung Bik (Ip Chun), a master of an unorthodox school of Wing Chun. When he comes back to Foshan, Ip Man falls in love with the mayor’s daughter, his future wife Cheung Wing Shing (Huang Yi). Meanwhile, Ip Man is confronted by Ng Chung So and faced with the dilemma of whether to follow through with his training under Leung Bik. And, unbeknownst to everyone, Tin Chi seems to harbor a secret that threatens to put the whole nation in jeopardy”.

Universal will release “The legend Is Born- Ip Man” on the 26th August, 2010 on HK DVD and Blu-ray.

Sources:far east films

Troubleshooter is about a private detective who is willing to take just about any case as long as the money is right.  Unfortunately, he bites off more than he can chew and finds himself trapped in a vast conspiracy with only 24 hours to solve the case.

The film is directed by Kwon Hyuk-jae and it features an all-star cast that includes Seol Kyeong-gu, Lee jeon-jin, Oh Dal-Soo, Lee Sun-min, and Lee Yeong-hoon.

Look for this one to hit the South Korean theater circuit in September.

PLOT
This Hong Kong martial-arts extravaganza tells of evil emperors and true love. The secret Red Lotus Flower Society is committed to the overthrow of the evil Manchu Emperor and his minions. One of his Governors is sent on a mission to retrieve a list of members of that secret society. Meanwhile, Canton kung fu practitioner Fong Sai-Yuk falls in love with the beautiful daughter of a rich merchant, recently moved to Canton. Her father, in an attempt to gain influence in the region and thus improve his business, offers his daughter in marriage to the winner of a kung-fu contest.

The cast includes Jet Li , Josephine Siao, Michelle Reis, Chan Chun Yung, Vincent Zhao, Sibelle Hu, Paul Chu and Peter Chan.

Features
Dolby Digital Cantonese 2.0 or English 5.1 soundtracks
Optional English subtitles
Audio Commentary by Hong Kong Cinema Expert Bey Logan
Interview Gallery
Exclusive Interview with Director & Fight Choreographer Yuen Kwai
Exclusive Interview with Writer Jeff Lau

This is a movie ive always enjoyed watching, and is also something different than the Wong Fei Hung character we’re so used to seeing him play. The fight scenes are great, fast paced and Vicent Zhao plays a great bad guy, who we get to see fight Jet Li a few times throughout the movie.

Sources:IMDB

Step 1:  Watch Ju-On and Ringu

Ignore the American remakes of these movies at all costs as neither comes close to capturing the creepy atmosphere and chills of their original counter parts.  I put these two titles to watch first because they are a perfected style of filmmaking that has become wildly popular in Asian countries and here in the states known as J-Horror and are the perfect introduction to that subgenre.

Buy

Buy

Step 2: Watch Tale of Two Sisters

Tale of Two Sisters takes the very familiar J-horror subgenre and manages to improve upon it by using a deep and intricate plot exploring the distrust between family members and also by using brilliant directing and cinematography.  It helped create an alternate genre of Asian horror known as K-horror which simply means it is a J-horror style movie made in Korea, but this movie is more than that and is by far the best of the J-horror/K-horror movies.

Buy

Step 3:  Watch Uzumaki AKA Spiral

After viewing Uzumaki (Spiral) you may feel like you have plunged deep into some twisted rabbit hole that you cannot climb out of.  That is Okay, as this is how you are supposed to feel when you are exposed to your first taste of surreal Asian horror.  Uzumaki is twisted, literally and figuratively, funny, and horrifying.  It is also a highly entertaining watch that may or may not turn you into a giant snail.

Buy

Step 4:  Watch Suicide Club
I would consider Suicide Club the next step in your venture into the surreal Asian horror subgenre.  While it has a tighter plot than Uzumaki it is still pretty out there.  This film also exhibits something that a lot of Asian horror movies are able to do, take a mundane plot that does not sound like a horror movie and some how make it absolutely horrific.

Buy

Step 5: Watch Audition

Director Takashi Miike’s films are really in a whole genre of their own.  Some his films feature elements of crime, horror, action, and kung-fu movies or in this movie’s case romantic comedy and horror.  Upon viewing this movie for the first 45 to 60 minutes you may feel like you have been tricked into watching something that is not horror, but trust me this movie is more terrifying than anything you could imagine.  It is also the tamest of Miike’s popular films and a nice introduction to this man’s brilliant body of work.

Buy

Step 6:  Explore

Armed with your new knowledge of Asian horror explore subgenres and works similar to the ones you liked above.  There are also tons of other brilliant Asian films that are outside of the horror genre that still contain elements of horror that many genre fans will love.

This is usually where some writers will give you some honorable mentions that did not make the above list, but I will not do that as I want you to explore the vast world of Asian cinema on your own and figure out what you like and don’t like.  Until next time, happy hunting.

AMP Movie Rating

Love Exposure ( or Ai no mukidashi ) is a very unique teen love/comedy flick that centres around 3 characters: Yu is the son of a recently broken-hearted priest obsessed with hearing confession;  Koike is a cocaine dealing, overpriced religious artifacts selling regional leader of a church-like cult named Church Zero; and Yoko is the step-daughter of the woman who dumped the priest, demolishes houses part-time and tolerates only one man in her life: the notorious singer of Nirvana, Kurt Cobain.

On a fateful day Yu, master of the mystical Japanese art of Tosatsu ( which is the ability to stealthily take an up-skirt shot of a girl’s panties ) and leader of a 4-man Tosatsu team loses a bet to one of his disciples… The result? Humiliation. Dressed in drag clothes, he must declare his love to a girl he likes! Having searched in vain all his life for his “Maria” Yu, disguised as Miss Scorpion, rescues a young girl about to be attacked. Could this be love? Could this young damsel in distress be his long awaited “Maria”? Fate thrusts our hero into the arms of the beautiful Yoko and he instantly falls for her but Yoko, who hates all men, falls for Miss Scorpion. In then comes Koike. Convinced she can use Yu’s father’s congregation to her cult’s advantage she devises a plan to seduce Yoko in order to gain access to Yu’s family and in the process develops a crush on him.

I have to say there’s something alarmingly charming about Takahiro Nishijima’s character Yu. He made me chuckle quite a few times in the beginning of the story. Having to invent crimes and sins in order to satisfy his dad made me crack up. Even his dad is funny as hell in the beginning. Then there’s Yu’s new found crew that light up the screen whenever they were all together. Tai-chi Tosatsu is so hilarious. There is a lot of religious content in this movie but I don’t think it’s meant to be taken seriously, after all the characters all seemed caricatured. Surprises are abound , for example there’s a healthy dose of drama in there too. At some point in the story, every character of note starts to feel more real to me ( hard-ons excluded ).  The beautiful Hikari Mitsushima plays an angst-ridden teen to perfection and Sakura Ando is simultaneously desirable but creepy. Being beaten by her dad while screaming: “Give it to me! Give it to me!” is a memorable moment.

The music is a weird blend of  classical and pop songs. Beethoven’s symphony no.7 is not something you would ever imagine being in a film like this but strangely enough it works. The fact that only a small segment of music is played at any given time prevents the watcher/audience from ever questioning the musical choices made by director Sion Sono ( I am personally not a big fan of Japanese pop music but I didn’t mind ).
The timing of the music is very well done and it always feels like it’s adding something to the scene rather than taking something away from it. The camera work is fine although you get a sense that budget restrictions might have influenced the quality of equipment.

The Wow Factor here is the story itself. From beginning to end originality is key. I mean you’ll go from cut off penises to religious fervour in the blink of a eye. Sword fights with gallons and gallons of blood, insane asylums with armed visitors, brainwashing, girls kissing, perverts with bombs, a school bus used as a jail cell, uncontrollable erections, parental abuse, catholic hypocrisy and so on and so on…There is so much stuff in this 4-hour long film to keep you entertained it reminded me of an ice cream parlour: There’s a flavour for everyone!

When I decided to watch Love Exposure I could never have anticipated how much fun it was going to be. Everything about this movie srceams entertainment. I had read somewhere that this was Sono’s masterpiece. While I would agree with that statement I would also add imperfect. There are indeed many flaws in Ai no mukidashi but ultimately I left my seat smiling and satisfied. And that’s what it’s all about.

Panna Rittikrai framing the shot during preliminary choreography with Crump

Panna Rittikrai, Marese Crump, and members of the Ong Bak Stunt Team

Plot info and details are scarce as of now, but what is known is surely enough to keep many a fan in torturous wait. Multitalented choreographer PANNA RITTIKRAI ( Ong Bak, Ong Bak STUNT TEAM) will be directing the film, with Ong Bak’s director Prachya Pinkaew acting as producer. The script was written by Crump and fellow accomplished martial artist Arnesti Vega, and Crump has already traveled to an array of places to collect some of the most respected names in martial arts to lend a hand. Confirmed to be involved so far are MMA fighter Anderson Silva, pro wrestling superstar Dave Bautista, Capoeira master Cobra Mansa and Filipino Kali master Ray Dionaldo with many more names expected to become attached. Even the soundtrack will be covered by a known name Kinetic, protégée of Wu Tang Clan’s THE RZA. FORMLESS will start shooting this winter.

AMP Movie Rating

Attack The Gas Station 2 trades in the subtle sociopolitical commentary, the campy yet charming humor, and the low budget charm of its predecessor for bigger action sequences, a more overt sociopolitical message , and over-the-top humor.  Whether or not this is a good thing or a bad thing is something that needs to be further explored.

Director Kim-Sang Jin does not stray far from the formula of the first film.  In fact this movie could almost pass as a remake of Attack the Gas Station as opposed to a sequel.  The film centers on a group of ethical thugs who are hired by a Gas Station owner to protect his store from a gang of bikers who have made a habit out of ransacking the place.  The tables turn on the jerkish owner, when the people he hired to protect his store decide to rob the place themselves after they are denied the money that they worked to earn.  Upon realizing that there is not much money in the store, the hired guns turned robbers decide to sell gas at half-price and keep the money.  Things are complicated further when a group of escaped convicts, a gang of pimps, and a motorcycle gang get involved.

I  definitely did not invest as much in these new characters as compared to the characters from the first movie in this series.  Screenwriter Baek Sang-yeol attempted to give each main character character a compelling backstory like in the first movie, but this time around the characters just lack the depth that their predecessors had.  The acting is also over-the-top but this has become director Kim-sang Jin’s trademark and is intentional as it properly compliments the offbeat and over-the-top  humor.

Kim-sang Jin is a phenomenal director and this movie has a nice flow and all the action scenes are very clean and crisp.  I do have to question Kim-sang Jin’s choice to go with a more stylized style of directing for this sequel which caused this film to lose the charming tone that its predecessor possessed.  Along with the stylized action, my other main gripe with this movie is how much it lifts from the original film without ever really doing anything original.� Attack the Gas Station 2 just seems to revisit scenes from Attack the Gas Station and twist them slightly so they do not get accused of making the same movie.

Those who may have disliked the first film in this series due to its lack of action will not be disappointed this time around though.  There is plenty of kung-fu and motorcycle-fu in this sequel to keep those with ADD entertained. but as I previously stated I believe that the stylized action actually drag this film down.  Do not get me wrong, the action and fight scenes in this movie are great but it just seems out of place in a sequel to Attack the Gas Station.

This movie also tends to beat you over the head with its sociopolitical message.  While social commentary was present in the first film it was very subtle, this movie pulls no punches with the social/political message it is trying to convey.  With the rebelling workers demanding payment even if it means breaking the law and the escaped cons constantly talking about how they are going to save the economy, I can see how the sociopolitical message of this movie may get overbearing to some viewers.

It is important to note that this is not a bad movie.  Kim-sang Jin is one of the most promising Korean filmmakers and this movie is a well directed and entertaining piece of cinema.  Sadly, it falls way short of it predecessor and just does not feel like a proper sequel to Attack The Gas Station.  I would recommend this movie if you are one of the many cult followers of the original and you are really bored with nothing else to watch, otherwise you can probably skip this average film.

AMP Movie Rating

Directed by Ho-Cheung Pang Love In A Puff is a romantic comedy set in the back alleys of Hong Kong, with the recent changes in the smoking law all of the smokers congregate to asmall back alley areas to grab a few puffs during work. The plot is pretty bland, the two main characters meet each other, have a few problems and the predictable story conclusion follows. It’s nothing really new or surprising but the social appeal of the movie is undeniable as it connects with many everyday situations and anyone that has ever had a crush can relate.

The movie features a group of smokers that meet up at their nearby smoking alley and share tales and stories about their respective jobs. The group is involved in a number of scenes and does deliver some comedy but the main focus is on the relationship between “Cherie” and “Jimmy” played by Miriam Yeung Chin Wah, also known for her cheerful performance in Love Undercover, and Shawn Yue who will also be featured in the upcoming martial arts movie Legend of the fist. The relationship starts off on a bad note when Jimmy walks in on a conversation about his former girlfriend turning up to a business meal with a French mans pubic hair on her bracelet, Cherie spends the rest of the movie trying to hide the fact she knows, plenty of laughs when she lets the comments slip.

Individually they both played their parts brilliantly but I did feel they lacked on screen chemistry at times. The movie is based over five days so you don’t really get chance to explore different levels of the relationship and can be left feeling detached at times. I didn’t feel they gave enough background information about the main characters and some of the romantic parts of the movie did seem a bit effortless. With the very basic approach to the story and the characters interactions outside the main relationship; the cast really needed to deliver to make this film entertaining.
I was really impressed by the soundtrack of the movie; it bought comedy and romance together almost perfectly with emotion provoking lyrics and light hearted and cheerful melodies. I’m not a huge fan of the genre but I don’t think I will see a better romantic comedy for a long while, a very relaxed and subtle movie that can have you giggling away, perfect if you’re after a quiet night at home with someone special.